Couple pays $13.25M for condo, MLS shows; Palm Beach house they sold last year expanded Ken Griffin’s estate

Darrell Hofheinz @PBDN_hofheinz

Sunday

Dec 29, 2019 at 7:04 PM

After selling their Palm Beach house to billionaire Ken Griffin, who used it to expand his estate, a couple has paid $13.25 million for a condo at the new Bristol tower in West Palm Beach, according to the multiple listing service and sources familiar with the deal.

Longtime Palm Beachers Roger and Susan Hertog have closed their $13.25 million purchase of a 22nd-floor condominium at The Bristol, the new 25-story tower on the waterfront near downtown West Palm Beach. That’s according to the local multiple listing service and sources familiar with the transaction.

The couple’s purchase of Unit 22A — with four bedrooms and 5,544 square feet of interior space — closed Dec. 26, according to the updated sales listing in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors MLS. The unit had been under contract since December 2017 and had been listed for sale at $14.35 million, MLS shows.

As reported previously in the Daily News, the Hertogs in May 2018 sold, for a recorded $20.25 million, their house at 10 Blossom Way to Chicago hedge-fund billionaire Ken Griffin. Griffin added it to his mostly vacant estate, which today totals more than 20 acres at 1265 S. Ocean Blvd.

The estate is on Billionaires Row, the stretch of coastal road that runs south of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Griffin’s holdings stretch over a quarter-mile of oceanfront, based on purchases made by Griffin and confirmed by the Daily News and property records.

Griffin and his spokesmen have declined to discuss in detail with the Daily News his estate in Palm Beach. His real estate broker, Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, has consistently declined to comment about Griffin’s purchases.

Griffin is said to have renovated the former Hertog house — a five-bedroom Bermuda-style home — to use as a residence to house family. It’s directly across Blossom Way from a house he bought in 2015 at 70 Blossom Way and renovated for his own use when he visits Palm Beach.

As of Sunday, no deed had been recorded for the sale at The Bristol by the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office. It was unclear if the price to be recorded with the deed will match the one documented in the MLS.

The Hertogs this summer reportedly paid $29.5 million for a New York City condominium on the 86th floor of a building at 432 Park Ave., according to the Real Deal. The apartment reportedly has three bedrooms and 4,028 square feet.

Under contract for two years, MLS shows

RELATED: Chicago billionaire adds to his Palm Beach estate with $20 million deal

Agent Stephen Ploof of Linda A. Gary Real Estate acted on behalf of the Hertogs in their purchase of the condo at The Bristol, the MLS shows. Ploof declined to disuss the sale.

The apartment was sold by Flagler Investors LLC, represented in the deal by agent Samantha Curry of Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which has handled all sales at the tower on behalf of the developer. Curry couldn’t be reached.

Bristol co-developer Al Adelson has consistently signed the deeds for sales at The Bristol. He co-developed the 25-story tower with Gene Golub of Golub and Co. of Chicago.

The Bristol has seen a rush of closings since construction began wrapping up a few months ago.

Because the Hertogs’ new condominium wraps around the north side of the The Bristol’s 22nd floor, it offers wide views of the ocean, Palm Beach, the Intracoastal Waterway and West Palm Beach.

New York City native Roger Hertog built a career in asset management and investment research, serving as president of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., which merged with Alliance Capital Management in 2000 to become AllianceBernstein. He is president of the Hertog Foundation and chairman of the Tikvah Fund, a philanthropic and cultural organization serving the Jewish community.

Former Hertog house sits on 1.6 acres

Griffin’s off-market purchase of the Hertogs’ house on Blossom Way added 1.6 acres to his contiguous land holdings east of South Ocean Boulevard, bringing the total at that time to about 17 acres. His holdings on both sides of the coastal road today total more than 20 acres, including an oceanfront house he bought in September for a recorded $99.14 million at 60 Blossom Way from investor Frank H. McCourt.

In all, Griffin has spent more than $360 million assembling land for his estate since late 2012, according to property records and other sources. Most of those deals were off-market transactions in which Moens handled both sides, just as he did with the sale of the Hertogs’ former house.

Griffin, who has longtime family ties to South Florida, has a net worth of about $13 billion, according to the latest Forbes rankings. In March, he ranked No. 4 on Forbes' list of the country's highest-earning hedge-fund managers.

Last year, Griffin pulled the plug on a massive oceanfront residence — stretching longer than a football field — that he had planned to build on his estate. He has not yet submitted plans for a new house on the oceanfront part of the estate.

The Hertogs’ purchase was the second recorded recently at more than $11 million at The Bristol. On Thursday, a Delaware limited liability company named PH23N Bristol LLC paid $11.09 million for a penthouse in the building. The buyer has an address at 895 Park Ave. in New York City, according to the deed. No other information about the buyer in that deal was immediately available in public records.